Favourites Bengaluru take on doughty Pune in first leg semis

Pune, Mar 6 (PTI) It will be a battle of two play-off
debutants when round-robin group toppers and favourites
Bengaluru FC take on FC Pune City in the first leg semi-final
of the Indian Super League at the Shiv Chhatrapati Sports
Complex in Balewadi here tomorrow.

BFC, who made their debut in the ISL this season after
making a big mark in the I-League till last season, have been
the most impressive among the 10 teams and go into the first
leg semi-final clash with their tails up against a team that
have made it to the play-off for the first time in four
attempts.

With both sides possessing some top class strikers and
effective mid-fielders, apart from two Indian goalies Vishal
Kaith and Gurpreet Singh who have been quietly efficient, the
game promises to provide exciting fare.

In India skipper Sunil Chhetri and Venezuelan Miku,
who are second and fifth in the goal-getters' list with 14 and
10 strikes respectively, the BFC have a potent strike force
that would be hard to contain.

The BFC go into the match with a slight advantage of
having beaten Pune City comprehensively once, but the hosts
can take comfort from the fact that when the two met in the
return leg in the league phase the match ended in a stalemate.

Miku's brace and Chhetri's stoppage time strike helped
Bengaluru come back from a goal behind to register a thrilling
3-1 win when the two teams met at this venue earlier.

The visitors, whose five-game winning streak was
halted earlier by Pune with a draw, will be going into the
game after logging a record-setting 40 points while
maintaining an eight-match unbeaten streak.

BFC's Spanish coach Albert Roca was a relieved man
after his team scored its 13th win of the season with a 2-0
verdict over Kerala Blasters in a game in which the team's two
main defenders John Johnson and Juanan were out due to
suspensions.

The ISL debutants have qualified for the semi-finals
as the league toppers, but Roca was wary of getting
complacent.

"This is the most difficult part of the season. We
have finished on top with a lot of points, but the pressure is
on us. Now, it's time to be humble and work harder with the
right mentality," he said.

"These wins help us with the confidence, but we do not
have a lot of days to prepare right now. So, we must have the
right mentality," Roca had said after the last game win.

The 55-year-old singled out Chhetri for praise for the
Indian captain's consistent performance right through.

"I am very happy with Sunil," Roca had stated.

"He is a player who has played more than 2,000 minutes
in the season so far. He is a special player and he's always
giving his best for the team," he said.

"He's a very competitive player who plays regularly
for the national team. I am happy for him and his outstanding
season," Roca had remarked.

If the BFC has a potent frontline, Pune has in
Marcelinho a top-class forward who has forged a fine
understanding with fellow-South Americans - Emiliano Alfaro of
Uruguay and Brazilian compatriot Diego Carlos, who all have
served out suspensions from games.

These three would pose a constant danger to the BFC
citadel with promptings from the likes of Adil Khan and Marcos
Tebar in the midfield.

Having picked up just two points from their last three
matches, the hosts coached by Serbian Ranko Popovic - will
be eager to make amends in the semi-finals after having
finished fourth in the round robin stage with 30 points from
nine wins and three draws.

A key factor to Pune's success has been Popovic's
faith in young Indian players like Kaith, Sartak Golui, Isaac
Vanmalsawma, Ashique Kuruniyan, Rohit Kumar and Sahil Panwar,
who have all played key roles during the season.

"We want to make most players possible for Indian
national team and make the league stronger," said Popovic in
the run-up to tomorrow's tough game against BFC.

The Serbian coach has made the most of the players
handed out to him after last year's head coach Antonio Habas
quit post the players' draft.

Tomorrow's game will show whether Papovic was able to
guide his team into the second leg in Bengaluru on March 11
with the added advantage of a victory in the first leg